1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a dishwasher and a method for controlling the same, which are capable of keeping the interior of the dishwasher clean.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a dishwasher is an appliance for removing contaminants (remnants of food) attached to dishes through injection of cold or hot wash water under high pressure.
Such a dishwasher includes a wash tub, in which washing of dishes is carried out, a plurality of baskets disposed in multiple stories to receive dishes, injection nozzles disposed at upper and lower portions of the wash tub, to inject wash water, and a pump connected to the injection nozzles, to pump wash water to the injection nozzles.
In such a dishwasher, wash water is supplied to the interior of the wash tub when dishes to be washed are loaded in the baskets. In accordance with operation of the pump, the wash water, which is collected in a water collector, is fed to the injection nozzles, and is then injected onto the dishes under high pressure. Thus, the dishes are washed by the injection pressure of the wash water.
That is, the dishwasher executes a wash operation and a rinsing operation by supplying an appropriate amount of water to the interior of the dishwasher and injecting the supplied water onto dishes through injection nozzles while circulating the water from the bottom side to the top side, and subsequently executes a drying operation to dry the washed dishes.
In such a dishwasher, however, bacteria may propagate in garbage and remnant water left in a filter, a water collector and flow passages within the water tub, and offensive odors may be emitted after completion of a series of wash processes including the wash operation, rinsing operation and drying operation, due to a sealed structure and humid environment of the dishwasher. Such bacteria propagation and offensive odor emission may cause user discomfort.
For a short period of time in which the dishwasher is used, the amount of bacteria in the dishwasher is temporarily reduced by high-temperature rinsing water and through the drying operation. However, bacteria multiply in the dishwasher for a long period time in which the dishwasher is not used, thereby causing internal contamination of the dishwasher. In particular, the amount of bacteria in the dishwasher is rapidly increased under the condition that the dishwasher is left for a prolonged period of time without sterilization of the interior thereof.
In a recently-developed dishwasher, an electrolyzer to execute sterilization is installed at the side of a water collector. In this dishwasher, sterilization is executed by electrolyzing wash water, using the electrolyzer, when the water level of the water collector is equal to or higher than a predetermined water level.
In this case, however, it may be impossible to sterilize the whole interior of the dishwasher when the water level of the water collector exceeds the predetermined water level. In this case, only the interior of the water collector may be sterilized.